Device for batching apparatus



Dec. 10, 1963 N. s. M. IVARSON DEVICE FOR BATCHING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1961 FIG] 1963 N. s. M. IVARSON 3, 3,70

DEVICE FOR BATCHING APPARATUS Filed June 5. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,113,701 DEVICE FOR BATCHING APPARATUS Nemo Sixten Mauritz Ivarson, Johanneshov, Sweden assignor to Kooperativa Forbundet Ekonomisk Forenmg, Stockholm, Sweden, a joint-stock company of Sweden Filed June 5, 1961, Ser. No. 114,832 Claims priority, application Sweden June 8, 1960 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-80) This invention relates to a device for use in batching apparatus for batching viscous liquids or liquids including solid components, which apparatus comprises a reservoir having a bottom aperture for feeding a liquid in dependence on a valve cooperating with the bottom aperture into a vessel disposed below the reservoir.

Batching apparatus of the aforesaid type are applied to a great extent as stationary units for batching determined portions into cans or other packing containers advanced on a conveyor belt or the like located below the apparatus. When the liquid contained in the reservoir is in a viscous state or mixed with solid components, as is the case of orange marmalade or the like, it frequently happens that when the filling operation is completed and the bottom aperture is narrowed, residue of the filling material in the form of strands remains suspended from the edges of the aperture, particularly when the solid components prevent a total sealing between the usual valve cone and the correspondingly shaped seating surfaces of the bottom aperture. When the filled packing container on the conveyor belt or the like is being advanced, the upper container edge may take along the strands, so that the strands lie across the container edge, which gives the container an untidy look and renders its handling unpleasant. Moreover, the filling material residues constitute an unnecessary waste of material.

The aforesaid shortcomings are entirely eliminated by the present invention, which is characterized in that the valve comprises a punching member coaxial with the bottom aperture and adapted to perform controlled movements in an axial direction, its cutting edges being in adjustment to the bottom aperture, the punching member being arranged to be maintained suspended during the filling operation in a position above the bottom aperture and to be lowered after the completed filling operation into cutting cooperation with the periphery of the bottom aperture to cut off the filling material residue suspended at the periphery.

An embodiment of the invention is described in the following, and reference is had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view, partly broken away, illustrating a batching apparatus embodying the invention, with the punching member being in its position for the filling operation, and,

FIG. 2 is a view generally similar to FIG. 1, illustrating the position of the punching member after a filling operation, and the upwardly directed air jet sweeping along the edge of the bottom aperture.

FIG. 1 shows the lower portion of a reservoir 1 containing orange marmalade 2 with the reservoir being provided with a bottom aperture 3 for feeding the marmalade into a can or container 4 disposed below the res ervoir in a row of cans advanced in series in any suitable manner. When the level of the marmalade reaches a certain height in the cans, means is provided to interrupt the filling. This result is accomplished by blocking or closing the bottom aperture 3 of the reservoir 1 by a valve member 7. As clearly apparent from the drawings, the valve member 7 is in the form of a punch, and more particularly is a hollow punch.

FIG. 2 shows the hollow punch 7 in the position blocking the bottom aperture 3. By the cutting cooperation between the cutting edge of the hollow punch and the correspondingly shaped edge of the bottom aperture, the thick marmalade stream is cut off elfectively at the edge of the bottom aperture, so that full sealing is obtained without any marmalade strands remaining suspended. More particularly, it will be noted that the lower end of the valve member 7 is bevelled to provide a sharp edge 7' about its periphery and (FIG. 2) that the inner periphery of the aperture 3 is of slightly less diameter than the sharp edge 7' of the valve member 7. Furthermore, the aperture 3 is bevelled, as shown at 3', to present an abutment surface for the edge 7'. Furthermore, the bevelled surface of the valve member 7 is inclined at an angle which differs from that of the bevelled surface 3' of the aperture.

It may, however, prove difiicult to prevent entirely a certain drop formation 8. For this purpose, it may be suitable, after the completion of the filling operation, i.e. after the hollow punch was lowered into its position for cooperation with the bottom aperture, to direct an air jet upwards through the hollow punch 7, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2. This is preferably achieved by means of a vacuum source such as a pump (not shown), operably associated with the upper end of the hollow punch. The upwardly directed air jet sweeps along the edges of the bottom aperture and causes possible suspending drops to be turned upwards where they adhere to the inner surface of the bottom aperture edge. The drops follow then with the marmalade stream in the next following filling operation. The function of the vacuum source is, of course, coordinated with the advancing operation of the cans, in such a manner, that it becomes elfective in the same moment, at the latest, when the can just filled is being advanced.

The edge portion of the bottom aperture may be advantageously made of tack-free material. FIG. 2 shows, for example, the employment of a nozzle 9 of polytetrafluoroethene for forming the bottom aperture 3.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown, but certain modifications are imaginable within the scope of the invention. For example, if there is no need for paying attention to the formation of drops, the vacuum arrangement is not necessary either. Furthermore, the punching may be carried out by a solid punch or such downwardly closed. The cutting surfaces of the punch and bottom aperture cooperating with one another may be designed in another manner. The invention is, of course, also applicable to liquids including solid components other than orange marmalade, as well as to viscous liquids in general, such as syrup or the like.

What I claim is:

A batching apparatus for liquids including solid components and liquids of a very high viscosity, said apparatus comprising a container for such liquids, said container including a bottom wall having a conical aperture therein for allowing the liquid to be discharged from the container, an axially movable valve cooperable with said bottom aperture for opening and closing said aperture, said valve being defined by a cylindrical member of such length as to extend through the liquid in the container, the lower end of the cylindrical member being bevelled to provide a sharp edge about its periphery, the smaller diameter of said conical aperture being slightly less than the diameter of the sharp edge of the cylindrical member, said conical aperture providing an abutment surface for the sharp edge of said cylindrical mem her with the bevelled surface of the cylindrical member being inclined at an angle differing from that of the abutment surface of the conical aperture.

UNITED STATES PATENTS McFarland July 6, 1880 Woods Feb. 28, 1911 Guill July 5, 1921 Thompson Apr. 8, 1930 Johnson Sept. 13, 1932 Karrick Feb. 28, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 23, 1940 

